Firm in court over food hygiene breaches
Court hears that food items had been ‘gnawed by mice’
B&M Retail Ltd has been charged with breaching food hygiene regulations over a lack of pest control.
At Ballymena Magistrates Court, B&M was charged with four offences alleged to have been committed on 26 March this year relating to pest control measures and staff training in relation to pest control.
The background was not opened, but the particulars of the offences allege that at B&M at The Junction in Antrim, the defendant company: failed to protect food against contamination likely to render it unfit for human consumption, injurious to health, or contaminated in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect it to be consumed in that state; failed to put in place adequate procedures to control pests; failed to supervise, instruct and train food handlers in food hygiene matters commensurate with their work activity; failed to ensure that the layout, design, construction, siting and size of the food premises permitted good hygiene practices, including protection against contamination and, in particular, pest control.
The charges detail that B&M allegedly offered for sale several ready-to-eat items, which had been “gnawed by mice” and on which mouse droppings were present.
It is also part of the charges that staff were not properly trained or supervised in relation to controlling pest activity, and that the premises “were not constructed in such a way as to prevent pests from gaining access.”
A prosecuting lawyer for the council told District Judge Nigel Broderick there was a joint application to adjourn the case until the new year “to facilitate discussions.”
The judge agreed, but also suggested adopting a “twin track approach” in that in the meantime, both sides should obtain witness availability in the event there is no agreement and the case needs to proceed to a contested hearing.
Adjourning the case to 22 January, Judge Broderick said that “if it doesn’t resolve, we can fix a date for contest.”